Video Interview: GAO on the Pentagon’s Insider Threat Program

Forty-five percent of Federal agencies reported that they were the target during the past year of a digital insider — an employee with authorized network access who knowingly steals or unwittingly exposes sensitive data. And at least a third of those agencies reported suffering an actual loss of data.

But as MeriTalk’s recent survey of 150 Federal IT managers from across civilian, defense and intelligence agencies revealed, formal insider threat programs remain in their infancy throughout the government. But the Defense Department has made some progress. MeriTalk spoke recently to Joseph Kirschbaum, the director of Defense capabilities and management at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), about the Pentagon’s insider threat efforts and the factors that go into an effective insider threat program.